You’ve booked your tickets and your hotel room, and you’re ready to fly out of Auckland to start your holiday. How could life get any better?Here are our top 5 airport hacks to prepare you for an easy take off and help get your holiday started with a smile.

Research your parking options.

There are several options for parking at Auckland Airport and many can wind up cheaper than taking a taxi each way. Most parking companies are either within walking distance of the terminal or offer a shuttle service. Some even provide additional services such as warrant of fitness checks, tune ups, and carwashing – great if you’re short on time, and helps with a happy finish to your holiday too.

Keep copies of all your travel documents on your phone.

It’s smart to have copies of your passport, plane tickets and hotel bookings stored on your phone and ideally backed up in the cloud in case they get lost while you’re enjoying your holiday. If you’ve used a parking building, it’s also helpful to take a picture of the car park number and level you’ve parked on so you can get straight back to your car when you get back in. It’s amazing how your brain will use a refreshing holiday to clear away extraneous little details - like where you left your car.

Empty your pockets.

If you’re travelling with carry-on luggage, transfer all the bits and pieces you’d usually have in your pockets into your bag well before you get to the metal detectors. It’s one less thing to worry about, and nobody wants to be the one to drop a pocket full of change when trying to get moving on the other side. .

Pack a pen.

Even though it’s the 21st century, there’s still a lot of paperwork involved in travelling overseas. Airport departure lounges never seem to have enough pens for completing departure cards, and flight attendants seldom have a pen to help with your customs declarations. Take a pen and you’ll be the saviour of several seatmates.

If you’ve got an early flight, stay by the airport the night before.

The Hotel Novotel Auckland Airport is right on the terminal yet the full length soundproof windows make for a quiet and peaceful night’s sleep. If you are leaving very early in the morning you can check in the night before and bag yourself an extra few hours of shut-eye. The bonus is that you’ll feel like you started your holiday a day before everyone else.